1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mobile machine for uprooting vegetation from the ground and for separating soil attached to the uprooted vegetation. More specifically, this invention relates to a tractor-drawn machine having its own source of power for uprooting palmetto plants and the like from the ground and for separating soil attached to the uprooted palmettos and for collecting the uprooted palmettos into a collecting container or the liike.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
Because of the ever-increasing costs of raw materials used in the building industry, many in the construction industry have sought ways of reducing the labor costs involved in the construction of domestic dwellings, new factory sites, warehouses, shopping centers and the like. A large percentage of the total construction costs involve the initial preparation of the building site in readiness for a subsequent building project. In many cases the building site is overgrown with palmetto plants or other vegetation having a root system that makes removal of the same from the ground not only a tedious operation but also a very costly one.
In the prior art, it has been customary, for example, in the preparation of an acre site to employ a bulldozer for clearing and levelling the proposed site. It is often the case that with the employment of a bulldozer the site may require 10 to 15 hours to clear. Furthermore, even when such land has been cleared with the use of such bulldozers the root systems of such palmetto plants and the like are still left embedded in the ground and may cause subsequent problems during the building operations.
The mobile machine of the present invention overcomes the costly employment of several bulldozers formerly used in the clearance of a site by providing a combined mechanism for uprooting the vegetation from the ground and for separating the uprooted vegetation from the soil still attached to the uprooted vegetation, and for collecting the uprooted vegetation in a container. Tests carried out with the machine of the present invention indicate than an acre site may easily be cleared using the machine of the present invention within one and one-half hours. Tests have also indicated that a similar acre site may require a bulldozer working for 10 to 15 hours to accomplish the same clearance. The costs involved in using a conventional bulldozer may average $100 per hour; therefore, the conventional cost of clearing an acre site may run as high as $1,500 or more. The same clearance project may be accomplished using a machine of the present invention within one and one-half hours, which clearly involves a considerable saving in the costs involved in preparing a building site.
Furthermore, the machine of the present invention has the added advantage of removing the vegetation and other debris from the building site, thereby avoiding any subsequent problems arising from the existence of the remains of root systems in the building site after the site has been cleared.
Although the prior art devices have resulted in a degree of site clearance, they have suffered from the problems of high cost and failure to remove completely the root systems from the ground. It is the primary object of the invention to provide a mobile machine for uprooting vegetation from the ground and for separating soil attached to the uprooted vegetation that overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which significantly contributes to the reliability and the ease with which a building site can be cleared in preparation for building construction or the like.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a mobile machine for uprooting vegetation from the ground that reduces the cost of the preparation of a building site.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a mobile machine for uprooting vegetation from the ground that substantially undermines the root systems of vegetation for a proposed building site and removes the same from the ground.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a mobile machine for uprooting vegetation from the ground that includes a mechanism for separating soil attached to the uprooted vegetation and for sifting such soil back onto the ground.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a mobile machine for uprooting vegetation from the ground that includes a container for collecting the uprooted vegetation and for discharging the same when such container is filled.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a mobile machine for uprooting vegetation from the ground that includes a conveyor for conveying soil separated from the uprooted vegetation laterally relative the mobile machine for discharge at one side of the mobile machine.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a mobile machine for uprooting vegetation from the ground having a soil separating mechanism which includes a plurality of planar members which include a plurality of radial arms, the distal ends of which intermesh with the distal ends of adjacent planar members to cause a separation of soil attached to the uprooted vegetation from the uprooted vegetation.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a mobile machine for uprooting vegetation from the ground in which the uprooting mechanism includes a plurality of tines, the leading edge of each tine defining a cavity for trapping soil therein for inhibiting the abrasive and corrosive effects of the soil on the tines.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a mobile machine for uprooting vegetation from the ground that includes a metallic plate of circular configuration disposed within the axle box of the uprooting mechanism for inhibiting filamentary material from winding around the axle of the uprooting mechanism and working through and damaging the axle box.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a mobile machine for uprooting vegetation from the ground in which the radial arms of the soil separating mechanism are slightly inclined towards the direction of rotation of the radial arm for improving the soil separating characteristics of the soil separating mechanism.
Another object of the present invention of the provision of a mobile machine for uprooting vegetation from the ground in which the intermeshing adjacent radial arms overlap each other at the distal ends thereof, adjacent distal ends being spaced laterally relative each other within the range one-half to one and one-half inches, thereby improving the soil separating characteristics of the soil separating mechanism.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a mobile machine for uprooting vegetation from the ground in which the soil separating mechanism is disposed along a plane which is disposed within the range of 25.degree. to 35.degree. relative the ground for enhancing the soil separating characteristics of the soil separating mechanism.
Anothr object of the present invention is the provision of a plurality of rods disposed around the periphery of each of the secondary axles for inhibiting the abrasive and corrosive wear caused by contact of the soil with the secondary axle, the rods providing a plurality of pockets for the retention of a protective layer of soil.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the present invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Particularly, with regard to the use of the invention disclosed herein, this should not be construed as being limited to mobile machines for uprooting palmettos from the ground, but should include mobile machine for uprooting and clearing any type of debris from the ground and for separating soil adhering to the vegetation or debris and for collecting such vegetation and debris for subsequent discharge. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description describing the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.